Alaska Economic forecast

Neal Fried

Economist: State of Alaska, Department of Labor

This program is pre-approved for 1 SHRM PDC & HRCI Strategic Credit

This presentation will address the most current economic analysis and forecast for 2019-2020 regarding the cost of living, construction, income and wage trends, the military, the health care industry, seafood, tourism, transportation, oil industry issues, labor needs, rural economic trends, and more. All this information is linked to the impact that it is projected to have on human resources and workforce planning.

 Neal Fried was born in Washington D.C., but raised in Vienna, Austria. He has worked as an economist in Alaska for over 30 years and has observed many changes.  His experience as an economist has been broad and deep. He has not been involved with the public policy issues of the economy, but instead has been a producer of objective economic and demographic measures and analysis of our economy.

    Mr. Fried produces economic data and analysis on a variety of economic issues facing Alaska, and serves as a speaker on Alaska employment and economic issues at the request of Alaska media organizations, state agencies and public institutions, nonprofits, corporations, professional associations, etc. 
    He is a primary author of articles appearing in the monthly magazine Alaska Economic Trends, published by the Alaska Department of Labor.  This publication is distributed to more than 5,000 subscribers.  His articles cover a wide variety of state of Alaska economic issues.  Some of the topics on which he has performed economic analysis and written articles include: the cost of living, annual forecasts of Anchorage and Alaska’s economy, construction, income and wage trends, the military, the health care industry, transportation, oil industry issues, labor needs, rural economic trends, economic impact of the 1989 Prince William Sound oil spill, growth in Alaska’s breweries, the Mat-Su Valley's economy and Alaska's largest employers.
    Neal has served on the Governor’s Oil and Gas Policy Task Force, the Anchorage Economic Development Committee, the Governor’s Technology Task  Force and others; he is also a member of the Pacific Northwest Economic Conference board. He is a recipient of Governor’s 2011 Denali Peak Performance Award.
    Neal came to Alaska in 1973 to attend UAF where he earned a  B.A. in History and a B.A. in Economics. He decided to stay in Alaska? "Alaska is the only place in the United States as a conscious human being I have lived. It has been a wonderful ride, so why would I leave?" Neal is married and has two children.

The use of this official seal confirms that this Activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®)  criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.